Friday, June 13, 2008

San Diego

Noah and I managed to dodge the "unmarried grandkid" requirement and joined the Riley fam on the annual Memorial Day San Diego trip. It was lovely.

We planned to take off Friday evening and drive down to Oceanside, but on a whim (or on an "I'd rather not drive for 11 hours if Allison's just going to sleep because driving lulls her to sleep more quickly than a boring speaker in a warm chapel" verdict) Noah decided to check flights and actually found some at a decent price. We just couldn't bring any of our personal effects along. Okay, not really. But seriously airlines? This is getting out of control. I hear they are considering charging people per pound. Not of luggage. Of their ACTUAL person. That's inspiration for a diet. But I digress...

We used our newfound freedom on Friday night to hit up the Bees game with some of Noah's coworkers and the Bruso's (so glad you could come!). It was a nice night, sans the getting stuck in the elevator with 14 people. Nay, BECAUSE of getting stuck in the elevator with 14 people. What can I say? Tense situations usually make me laugh. Also a nice night because Traci and Spencer's little Paige didn't totally reject me and their little Curtis is quite possibly the snuggliest little guy on the planet right now.

Saturday, I succumbed to the siren song of responsibility and ran out to a client event before we left. Glad I did. Good coverage. From there, we hopped on our flight and found ourselves in the San Diego airport after a few hours of pretty uneventful flying (not complaining). San Diego International must have been battling QUITE the loitering epidemic in their pick-up area, because they hired the most zero-tolerance traffic patrol lady I have ever encountered. The flashlight was her weapon of choice and she was NOT afraid to use it.

We stayed in Oceanside, so I was stoked that we were able to spend an afternoon with my cousin Allyn and her family. Her boys weren't feeling well, so we stayed with them while the rest of the family went to church. Her sweet little guy, Banks, was not having it and stood in one spot facing the front door just sobbing after his mom left. It basically broke my heart. Fortunately we had a wooden train set problem that needed solving and Banks was just the man for the job. He warmed up shortly thereafter and it was all uphill from there. The rest of the afternoon was so delightful - at the risk of sounding 80 years old. :) Allyn and Aron's kids are honestly some of the most pleasant, adorable ones around and it was so much fun to spend time with them.

The rest of the week was a lot of beach, pool, sun, food and games. And I love that there isn't much more to report than that. It was so relaxing and that's just what we needed.

Our last night in California, we headed to Pantages Theater in L.A. to see Wicked with Noah's parents and sister (thank you for the tickets!). Phenomenal. The casting was absoluetly spot on and the plot was really fun. We didn't take a camera (because that's just how we roll these days) but we did manage to snap this shot with Chris' blackberry in the theater before the guy yelled at someone else for doing the same thing.

glad you had a good time, allison! it was wonderful to see you and meet noah. aron took emma and lilja to wicked and they also tried to take pictures in the theater. good thing the lighting in there is not adequate enough to get a picture that is worth looking at. the theater surely does that on purpose.